Generally, a battery module is formed to have a structure in which a plurality of cells are aggregated by means of serial and/or parallel connection. The battery module typically includes a cell assembly in which a plurality of cells are arranged and stacked in one direction, and a frame having a plate capable of covering the cell assembly.
In a conventional battery module, when a cooling channel is separately designed for cooling the battery cells in a water-cooling manner, a space occupied by the cooling channel is separately required, so that it is difficult to simplify the structure and there is a limit in the capacity of mountable cells. In other words, as shown in FIG. 1, in the conventional battery module, a cooling water inflow tube 12 is generally added to a portion of an inner space of a frame 10 in which a cell assembly 11 is disposed. However, this configuration makes it difficult to reduce the weight of the module, demands much space for installing components in the module, and increases the cost.
Regarding the cooling technology of the battery module, Patent Literature 1 discloses a battery pack, in which a guide member is installed between a first battery module group and a second battery module group, so that a channel of a heat exchange medium passing through the first battery module group is changed. According to Patent Literature 1, the heat exchange medium passing through the battery module is obstructed by the guide member, so that a heat exchange medium is directed toward a lower portion of the guide member. At this time, the inside of the guide member is curved, and so it is possible to prevent the generation of turbulence in the heat exchange medium.
Patent Literature 2 discloses a battery module, which includes a plurality of cartridges and a cooling duct for supplying a cooling gas to the outside of the plurality of stacked cartridges, wherein the cooling duct supplies the cooling gas so that the cooling gas comes into direct contact with the outer surface of the cartridge.
In spite of the above technologies, the conventional battery module still has problems in that the components to be added for cooling increases the weight of the battery module and decreases the volume ratio of the battery module.